– Should get a solid majority – E24

Banning businesses is a long way off, says Høyre’s Nikolai Astrup. But we don’t need crypto mining in Norway, he believes.

– We should get a solid majority. If not unanimously, says Lars Haltbrekken.

Together with colleague Nikolai Astrup (H) in the energy and environment committee, he meets E24 to front a proposal he has strictly put forward before:

The government must investigate the consequences of a ban on cryptocurrency mining, the two believe. The conclusion must be ready before the state budget in the autumn.

And the belief in the solid majority comes from the fact that the government has already claimed that it is on its way.

– Government proposal too bad

Energy Minister Terje Aasland (Ap) and Digitization Minister Karianne Tung (Ap) came out in April and said that the new Ekom Act, which regulates services related to digital communication, also included the possibility of a ban.

– The proposal that the government came up with for this new e-communications act, where they went out very aggressively and said that now they should put an end to cryptocurrency – it was simply too bad, says Haltbrekken.

There was nothing to be read in the ministers’ proposal about an actual ban – only an opportunity to restrict use for reasons of national security.

– Neither Aasland nor Tung had a basis for the statement that the proposals they have now put forward contribute to regulating or rejecting the crypto industry, says Astrup.

– In the process of short-circuiting climate change

The two call the power-intensive crypto-mining pointless.

– The simplest, most unbureaucratic way to say no to cryptocurrency is to ban it, says Astrup.

And for the Conservative Party, it is a long way off to propose a business ban. That is why they voted against when Rødt proposed the same in 2022.

– It sits deep inside. It should, too. But when we ask the government to investigate it, it is because we see it as a possible way to say no to cryptocurrency, which will become a power drain at a time when Norway is managing towards a power deficit.

– We need the power for other and better purposes. The lack of power is in the process of short-circuiting the entire climate transition, hardly any licenses have been granted for new power production since the government took office.

At the same time, Astrup emphasizes that Norway will need more data centers in the future.

– Data centers are an increasingly integrated part of the Norwegian economy, on which all businesses will depend. All industries will need to store more data, process more data, and when they adopt artificial intelligence, that growth will be exponential.

– If, on top of that, we are to operate with the extraction of cryptocurrency, then it is a calculation that does not add up, says Astrup.

– I agree, we will need more data storage. But we must also look at how we can limit the need for more data storage. It should not grow into the sky. And one important part of that is to ban the things we don’t think are necessary, says Haltbrekken.

– Blind hen finds grain

Storting proposals from the SV and the Conservative Party jointly are slowly becoming a habit.

In April, SV deputy leader Torgeir Knag Fylkesnes and Conservative politician Linda Hofstad Helleland agreed on tax policy.

– Then I had a plan together with Tina Bru to stop the introduction of tax on solar power, and we also had a joint proposal about this waste incineration tax, says Haltbrekken.

– It is common to both parties that what is important is to get approval for important issues, and whether it is with the Conservative Party or others, it is 85 votes in that room that is decisive.

Nikolai Astrup leans towards his parliamentary colleague:

– Even a blind hen can find grain, and SV is an example of that, says Astrup, provoking laughter from the SV politician.